"THIS IS THE END OF THE UNITED STATES EMPIRE" - Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski On Iran War

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[00:00:00]coming on now. Karen, how are you?

[00:00:02]I'm fine. I'm fine.

[00:00:04]Um usually I'm the optimistic one, Karen. I'm getting less and less optimistic. The military build-up is significant. I know I was just talking to Trita, I think you would have heard heard me just him saying that this is common for the US. Um he used Obama as an example during the JCPOA.

[00:00:17]Nothing like what we're seeing right now. Three aircraft carriers, hundreds of aircraft, at what, 20,000 troops I think it is total, 20,000 soldiers. Um air defense systems, more missile systems being being sent to the region.

[00:00:31]We've got um refueling aircraft, a whole bunch of them, a dozen of them or so.

[00:00:35]More probably more couple of dozen sent to Israel as well.

[00:00:39]Uh the the the the reports the CNN has put out a report that he's the the the meeting had with his security council included looking at his options, which were continuing economic warfare or considering military strikes, which included two strikes, decapitation, or destroying their ability to close the Strait of Hormuz.

[00:00:56]Um I'm not as optimistic as I once was as of yesterday. And I was speaking to the advisor of the of the president, former advisor, sorry, to the president of the UAE just an hour ago, 2 hours ago in an interview, I'll publish it tomorrow. Um and he's he said to me, Mario, I expect at least 50% chance of the war continuing. And he's not the only person echoing this. And then lastly, I'll add what the Iranians are saying to give you an example that it's on on both sides. You've got Iran's army spokesperson said he's the army spokesperson, you'd expect the army spokesperson to say something like that, but he said, "We did not We do not and did not consider the the war over and we have updated our target and equipment bank. If the enemy again commits another aggression, it will be confronted with new tools, new methods, and new arenas."

[00:01:39]I don't know what new arenas means, what new targets I guess, but um Uh Karen, what do you make of everything?

[00:01:45]Yeah, I mean I I kind of uh I mean Trita is right that we use the military force and that kind of thing. But the the other issue with carriers bringing them in is they do have a kind of a a time frame that they're able to be used. And then So, there's always that time pressure, you know, do we want to keep them there forever or do we want to use them? And I think that temptation, that political temptation to use the military forces that have been uh flowing in, I mean, in an amazing way uh in during the ceasefire in particular.

[00:02:15]Um so, yeah, I I share your your uh concern. And I think I think there's a uh you know, I mean, certainly the Iranians are ready and prepared and uh probably expecting this war to go kinetic again.

[00:02:29]And um Trump uh doesn't seem to have a good off-ramp for the economic damage he's causing globally. You know, um if he if he suddenly says, "Okay, no more blockade. I'm going to lay off.

[00:02:44]War's over. I'll settle with whatever."

[00:02:46]And and then we can restart oil, fertilizer, gas, all of these things.

[00:02:51]That's going to take months to get It's a slow process, you know, it's not just an immediate automatically everything goes back to normal. It doesn't go back to normal for a long, long time. The longer he puts this off, the worse it gets. And at any point, whether it's 3 months from now or tomorrow, that Trump decides, "Okay, I'm done. Let's just let this war go and and get the world back to normal or whatever. We'll call it a win." But if he but when he does that, no matter when he does it, he's going to take serious, serious criticism for what he has already done. Because as we keep getting reminded, the Strait of Hormuz was open for business. It was functioning just fine before Trump and Israel, you know, launched this war. So, Trump has to have a plan, not just an off-ramp. He has to have a plan to protect his reputation.

[00:03:38]It He can't It's not enough just to call it a win. How can he shift the blame?

[00:03:42]Who can he blame for the bad global economy? You know, who who can And I don't I don't think he has a way to do it. I think he's got himself in a uh he's just keeps digging and digging and digging, and he hasn't decided he's hit the bottom yet.

[00:03:56]Well, there's an unconfirmed report in Arab media says an unnamed senior Iranian official expects, quote, "a limited resumption of fighting followed by a transition to negotiations" after Trump rejected their latest proposal.

[00:04:09]What do you make of Iran's proposal? My position, I think you disagreed with me last time. I I just think that Iran is being a bit too hard on Trump here. I don't I'm not saying it's not justified they don't have the right to. They've just been attacked, they've had their supreme leader killed with his family.

[00:04:22]There's more They've got more than enough reasons to not accept any deal whatsoever and not budge 1 inch. Um but politics is politics and I've I've been saying this for a while they need to give Trump some sort of win, even if it's just optically a win, he can call it a win. But they're not.

[00:04:40]They're saying, "Hey, we'll discuss a nuclear program later. You remove your blockade, we'll open the Strait of Hormuz that was already open, and we'll charge a fee that didn't exist before the war." That would look terrible for Trump.

[00:04:51]Yeah. It would.

[00:04:52]>> I'm not saying Trump has a choice, but You know, there is something else that is going on here that has never gone on before. This is the end of the United States empire. This is the uh we've already watched pretty much the destruction of the Carter doctrine, which was to have troops in the region to secure and and guarantee oil flows and that kind of thing.

[00:05:15]So, that has run its lifespan from the 1979 or 77, whenever he he put that out there, uh that we would have this role that we assumed that we would play for the world and for ourselves in the Middle East. So, that has that has had a lifespan and it's died now. It's gone.

[00:05:32]So, something new is com- coming and I think with when you look at the relationships between the other major powers, both the the the the great, you know, the large larger world, the the global south or whatever, and then you add in the big players, China and and Russia, and even India to an extent.

[00:05:53]Those guys are all interested. And those guys in numbers of sovereign nations far outnumber the United States and Israel, right? It's pretty much almost everybody but Europe, Israel, and the United States and a few South American countries.

[00:06:06]And all the rest of them want to see a multipolar world. They want to see the end of uh um American uh bullying around the world. They want to see um uh an end of uh the kind of trade policy that Trump has really uh exacerbated with his tariffs, but the US used trade as a weapon and money and finance and Swift and all that as a weapon before this. And the rest of the world's tired of it. And so now we have And they're also tired of Israel.

[00:06:34]They're tired of Israel committing genocides with no punishment whatsoever.

[00:06:38]And I think um if anything, Iranians might be happy to see a couple see it go kinetic just so they could hit Israel again. Um and we're And the whole world would cheer him would cheer for that. So, I think we're ready for a major change, and it's not the kind of change that Trump wants, and it's not the kind of change that the US administration is even imagining. We We really don't have a good positive role to play in the next uh phase of power architecture. We don't. We We don't want to share power. Well, guess what? We're going to have to.

[00:07:10]We're going to have to. And that's what this this Iran thing is about, and that's why I don't think they're compromising. I think there are a lot more people on Iran's side, a lot more countries, a lot more economic power, energy power, diplomatic power, and even military power on Iran's side, beyond Iran, than there is on the US side.

[00:07:30]think that's what's playing out, and that's why I think that's a part of why Iran is not is being very uh and not demanding, but they're being very uh uh serious about this, and they're not really trying to help Trump find a way out of this thing.

[00:07:50]So, you you think a war is what? Likely, unlikely? How likely and how would it look like?

[00:07:57]Well, the war is continuing even with the ceasefire, obviously. We are We are conducting economic warfare. We have a blockade, that's an act of war against Iran. So, the war is continuing and it's I think it I think we're going to >> in Lebanon. Lebanon, that's the ceasefire in Lebanon. That's the ceasefire in >> is absolutely um the it's almost uh the the panic urgency with which Israel is expanding their borders and northward is actually shocking because, you know, when Trump talks about um he says, "Oh, Iran's government is divided." Of course, I know where that's not true, actually.

[00:08:30]But Trump says that. But you know whose government is divided? It's Israel's government. And to a lesser extent, I think, the United States government. So, uh we're the ones under stress and duress in how we, you know, what's our next decision. And I think what Israel is doing is seriously damaging um any future situation for Israel because they have proven I mean, they're they're I mean, we talked about this before, but they are using they are telling southern Lebanon, "Prepare to look like Gaza."

[00:09:01]They're They're using those words, which means they're not hiding it, you know.

[00:09:05]It's not like, "Oh, that's a weird coincidence that all of a sudden southern Lebanon is being wiped flat and bulldozed just like Gaza."

[00:09:13]And no people, it'll be a wasteland.

[00:09:15]>> Israeli Israeli minister Israeli minister Amichai confirmed the IDF destroying infrastructure in southern Lebanon to, quote, "stabilize the new borderline of the state of Israel." Uh.

[00:09:29]He she just said that out today. And that's on top of what the defense minister said. The defense minister said 2 days ago that the Lebanese flag the the tree in the flag will burn. So, Lebanon will burn if Hezbollah continues to attack in Israel. Um and we know that he said a statement earlier that 20% of the population cannot return home even after the war. And I'm seeing videos of what's happening there. There's one of a village called Bint Jbeil.

[00:09:52]The same thing in Gaza. You look at it, you're like, "Is this Gaza?" It looks identical to Gaza. It's one of the biggest cities I think in the south.

[00:09:59]Oh my goodness.

[00:09:59]>> It is insane the impunity in which they operate. It is crazy. I I just feel like a fool for arguing for years that Israel's attacks on Lebanon have been proportional, which they have factually, until now. Now they're starting to wipe out villages. Before they were a lot more selective. But like this is a whole different story.

[00:10:15]But then going back to you said the war is ongoing when it comes to Iran, true.

[00:10:19]It you could say the war's been going on for decades as well because of the the sanctions.

[00:10:23]>> Sure. But in terms of a kinetic war what is the likelihood if Trump then makes that decision? Let's say he's in a corner where he he feels like he has no choice. Would he attack their leadership? Could he start striking their military infrastructure?

[00:10:36]Could he could he get into a prolonged war? Can the US even afford a prolonged war? I was speaking to Admiral Montgomery just a few hours ago. He's like, Mario, he confirmed the report that the US is not ready to defend Taiwan if China makes a move now. The munitions are just way too low. Yeah, it's So it's a question is will Trump want to do this and can he afford to do this?

[00:10:57]Yeah. Um I mean I'm over 50%. I would say higher than 50% that it's going to go kinetic again. And the question is what targets would Trump try to do? I mean, he um the decapitation thing of course we've we've done that we and Israel have have done that already. Really for for a series of decapitation strikes early on. And now they have people that I mean we are dealing with people.

[00:11:24]There's obviously people in in Iran that are communicating. So will you really want to destroy that? I think what they'll choose if Trump is true to form because Trump wants to blow up something and immediately declare it a major success before any of the data is out just like he did June in in the 12-day war. Uh make up make a spectacular bombing. Uh play it up. Uh talk about how genius it was and then say peace is now we will we've done it.

[00:11:50]And so I think maybe they will attack again the nuclear facilities. You know, the problem here is Iran is ready for it and Iran has already said if we are attacked, here's what we're taking out.

[00:12:03]Okay? You want to take our infrastructure, you want to take energy, we're going to empty out the energy in the Gulf. And that's that's a serious thing. If you want to hit our humanitarian or our or civil society support things uh we have desalinization plants in Israel and elsewhere. We will cause this area to be uninhabitable.

[00:12:24]They've told Trump this.

[00:12:26]And they've also said that um that they will um uh attack in new ways, of course with new weapons. So maybe our ships might be at risk or that kind of thing. So they've been very clear with what will happen if Trump does this. But I think Trump's temptation and his habit is he wants something violent. You know, the language of violence is we've seen a huge increase in this in in the Democrats say, "Oh, it's the Republicans." Republicans say, "It's the Democrats." No, it's Trump. It's it's all of us and it's led by Trump. He loves the the threat, the violence, the overstatement uh artificial drama. He loves all that stuff. So he wants something dramatic to then allow him a tiny bit of space to exit do whatever he has to do to reform our military, which is actually not going to be not going to be easy at all. They have no plans whatsoever and this is what makes it hard to to gauge because if it was me and I think any normal person we would look at how much loss we've already taken in our military logistics and systems. We would also look at their performance and we would say, "You know what? Do we really want to build more of these same systems which don't do well in 21st century modern warfare? Or do we want to shift our whole orientation of our military?

[00:13:41]You know, this is big question. But our defense industrial establishment simply wants profit and they make tons of profit off these older systems and even not so old systems that are that don't work. So this could be a great opportunity for somebody an American leader a president to really say, "You know what? We did this thing in Iran, didn't really work out exactly. I'll call it a win. But you know what we learned is we learned we needed a different kind of military. And we need to spend money on the military but in a different way. And really make that a turning point." Now that would be a real normal person, average intelligence running the country, that's what that person would say. This is what we have to work with.

[00:14:22]What can we do better? Um how can we um not let something like this happen ever again? And honestly uh every bit of this Iran thing from February 28th onward, everything that happened to our equipment, every target every uh you know action and reaction every bit of that was predicted.

[00:14:43]I mean by by people in the Pentagon. We knew we didn't know everything that Iran had, but we understood enough. But Trump didn't listen. He didn't listen to his intel people. He didn't listen to his Pentagon people. He doesn't listen to people that know what they're talking about. He listens to Israel. And Israel could care less if we are weakened militarily. I don't think Israel has a great interest in us defending Taiwan from absorption into China. You know, I don't I don't think Israel cares about anything except Israel and us being in the region dividing Arab countries, weakening Arab countries, certainly weakening and and and hopefully dividing Iran. Every bit of this, no matter what it costs, no matter how embarrassing it is, how destructive it is to to Trump's presidency and his legacy Israel could care less about that. They want us over there to provide cover for expanding their borders, which they are doing posthaste, aggressively, and very bloodily. And actually don't forget the West Bank because they are flowing the settlers are flowing with defenses by the IDF into the West Bank. It it's actually been some of the most violent activities there by settlers than that they've seen in a long time. So Israel is consolidating and expanding its borders and they're using us for cover and they really could care less if it's good for the United States or not.

[00:16:01]So we need a president puts America first. We don't have that. We need a president who listens to his intelligence and his Pentagon when it when the Pentagon says, "Look, what we've been doing for 30 years might have worked then, it doesn't work now. Here's what we need. We need to shift and change and maybe you know huddle. Why don't we have a huddle? Why don't we think about a strategy that works in a multipolar world? That's what's coming. That's what we're going to be living in. Why don't we adapt our military for that?

[00:16:30]What do you make of the meeting between uh What do you make of the meeting between Iraq and Putin as well? Like I I did a post a couple days ago. I said anyone that you don't have to take sides to to accept facts on who's winning the war so far at least for now.

[00:16:43]This photo of Iraq shaking hands with President Putin answers that question.

[00:16:49]Uh but what does it mean for the region?

[00:16:50]What does it mean for the world? You did talk about the fall of kind of the beginning of a multipolar world, US, China, to a lesser extent maybe Russia and India eventually, who knows.

[00:17:01]How is that world going to look like and how's it going to look in the like in the short term? And more importantly, how's the region going to look like? I I was mentioning earlier I was interviewing the the former um advisor to to the UAE president and and asked him the same question on what the UAE strategy is and he's like, "We're doubling down on our alliance with the US, but we're also diversifying." You know, the Okay. Okay. Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi was going was visiting China during the war. So he's like, "We're doubling down on the US." There's a report yesterday that came in that Israel sent troops to and the Iron Dome air defense system to the UAE during the war. Yeah, that was during the war. Um but putting it all together, what do you make of Well, I think the keyword with that that Putin used was sovereignty. Okay? And I think um that's really the that's the key to it. Um a multipolar world is a world where sovereign countries respect the sovereignty of other countries, okay?

[00:17:50]And that's certainly very important to Russia, it's important to China, it's important to Iran. We talk a lot about it. But American the the American government's uh interpretation of sovereignty is we we have our sovereignty and we have all of your sovereignty, too. We we are in charge.

[00:18:03]So that's not that's not a good look, really. And so um I think uh Russia I well I know Russia will, but Russia, China, and all of Iran's allies and other countries who are trying to get away or get out from under the US influence, like Spain for example, even Italy to some extent. I think Russia will stand and support and respect their sovereignty. Um and whether they really do, but I think the language of sovereignty is the language that they are they're speaking.

[00:18:33]And I think that's the answer. And for the UAE, you know, the UAE has uh formed a close relationship for many years, decades even, with Israel, certainly with the United States. You know, a lot of US companies went to Dubai years and years ago. I remember when Halliburton moved its headquarters there. Uh it's like "Oh, that's interesting. What's happening?" Well, we have a relationship. We have a trust relationship. It was, you know, profitable. It was good. Uh legally pleasing uh environment for Halliburton and other companies like that. So that's fine. And that is kind of diversification. But um I'm glad to hear that that the UAE is looking at diversifying beyond Israel, beyond the United States. Um because that's really what we have to do.

[00:19:12]>> uh Uh the advisor was telling me that the the UAE's bought significant military equipment. The last two big purchases were from France and another European country. I can't remember if it's Germany or another one.

[00:19:23]But it's like the diver the the diversification started before this war.

[00:19:27]But I'm guessing it's accelerated under this war. Um How's Iran going to look like and what is that relationship going to be like with Israel? That's going to be very tricky. Yeah. And I think it also depends on what happens next as well with these negotiations cuz then Iran now is going to come out very strong. If Trump decides to walk away now uh Iran will instantly become a superpower in the region, instantly, cuz he's just opened the open paved the way for them to control the Strait of Hormuz and for China and Russia to rearm them.

[00:19:54]And China and Russia will be a lot more willing to rearm a country that controls the world's most important energy choke point. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, well, in theory, it could be a fine relationship. First off, Iran does not have, other than supporting Hezbollah, Iran does not have a record of reaching out and making wars with other countries. They They take the blows.

[00:20:15]They don't start the fights. So, they're going to be powerful. They're going to be an energy player. Clearly, I think the Strait of Hormuz will be under Omani and Iranian control. I think that's that's That is evolutionarily what is going to happen.

[00:20:28]The Gulf countries are going to are going to cope with that. They're going to try to be friends. Iran wants to be friends with them. Even Even the UAE, which I know Iran is not happy with the UAE, hasn't been for a long time, or even Saudi Arabia, but they're They will be friends with them. I think what's going to happen is not bad for any of the people there, any of the countries there. It is We are going to grow in a different way.

[00:20:50]It will decentralize a little bit. Power will be shared and decentralized. And trade will actually be improved. If the US is out of there punishing people with tariffs, but here's the problem.

[00:21:01]There is a country in the Middle East that most of the world despises because they behave very badly, okay? And they are They're a nuclear country. You know, they're in the not They're not in the nuclear the NPT. They're not in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. They refuse to acknowledge any of this. We defend them constantly. What's going to happen when Iran is more powerful, when other countries are are dealing multilaterally with other countries?

[00:21:26]Guess what? No Who's going to speak for Israel?

[00:21:29]We speak for Israel now. The United States does. But if we lose our top dog status, and nobody's scared of us anymore, which they really, honestly, aren't as scared as they used to be after they saw how we what happened since February 28th, they realized that we are not invincible. Um So, so Israel's life is going to change.

[00:21:47]Israel's The pressure on Israel as a nation that does not behave according to any type of order, that is going to be hurting. And And And since we're so connected as the United States is connected to Israel, we're going to feel that as a diss on us. It's going to be, oh, that's not a good situation for us. But the whole rest of the world is going to have a good a better situation. Israel is not. And I think maybe that's the panic that we're seeing in Israel. They are realizing this this idea What Why Why Why is Tel Aviv so quick to say, these are our new borders?

[00:22:21]Because I think they realize this is their last shot to expand.

[00:22:26]I was thinking the same thing, like this is They've got like a final window for the For the people in Israel that do believe in greater Israel or want to expand their borders, this is probably their last chance to be able to do so before the the unconditional support from the US and the rest of the world, really, but mainly the US, comes to an end. We're already seeing that shift in progress in Europe. That's already happening. And in the US, it's already shifting in the younger generation. The polls are showing it. So, the Middle East will look very different. I I worry if the balance of power shifts enough, what I worry is that Israel has been the aggressor for the last few years. You know, depending where where you stand, some say it's been the last few decades. But, you know, it's easier to debate that, but at least the last few years, but I worry if the the balance of power shifted enough, then Israel becomes the victim. If there's no one there to support Israel, and there's all these countries that are upset about what happened in Gaza, upset about what happened it happened in Lebanon. If Iran has more influence in the region, what worries me in 10, 15 I'm giving to long, long horizon, because I think it will take a long time before the sentiment in the US the shift of sentiment applies in the government. You know, the younger generation start to get elected. Um and more importantly, in the region to shift enough in that direction where countries like the UAE, which is really upset, by the way, Karen. They are very upset at Iran. Iran attacked the UAE more than any other country. They might They say to me, "The advisers said to me, Mario, why? I understand we have US presence here, yes. I understand that um you know, this is a good way to pressure the US, but And I'd say we have an alliance with Israel."

[00:23:54]But Bahrain has an alliance with Israel.

[00:23:55]They weren't attacked as much as us.

[00:23:57]All the other countries in the region, all the other Gulf countries have a US presence there. They weren't attacked not even close to as much as we were attacked. So, why us? So, there's that very negative taste in their mouth.

[00:24:07]Yeah. Well, you know, population-wise, the UAE is not a huge population center.

[00:24:12]Per capita resources, it's very significant. But population-wise, it's not. So, you know, in a way, Iran really does kind of is really kind of going after the elites, which is part of the nature of war these days. Certainly what why we are I mean, there's still people, they may be right, that this war was facilitated in part by demands to get the Epstein files, you know. The The connection and the timing wouldn't It wouldn't be the first time we've gone to war to avoid a political crisis in Washington. So, This is I I understand why Iran would go after them. Um It is It's a perfect target.

[00:24:54]It's a perfect target, and it is It is a It's a It's a It's a target that says something about what this war is about.

[00:25:01]It's It's about picking the wrong friends, and it's about elitism. And I I feel sorry for I see it I see it as well, also. The way I see it, strategically, it makes sense for them, because that's the at least they saw it as the easiest place to cause the most damage. Saudi's too big. Doesn't depend as much on tourism and stuff. This is the financial hub of the world that's going to be becoming, you know, Hong Kong, New York, London, and Dubai type thing, New York, Dubai.

[00:25:27]Um so, it's become like a hub. So, it's a very small target. Um And they thought that's a great way to pressure the US and show the world, because optically as well, if they're able to strike the Burj Khalifa with a drone, for example, optically, it shows the war backfiring on the US. So, that That's how I saw it from a strategic perspective. You know, remember, I was the target of it as well. You know, I had two explosions in my building. One of them One of them was was a 5-minute walk.

[00:25:52]Another one was a 5-second walk. Saudi was the victim of it, but I always look at things objectively. And for me, I'm like, if you kill their leader and destroy their country when they're facing something existential, they're going to lash out in any way. When they're facing a military the size of the US, asymmetric warfare is the only way they have any chance to survive or win that war. So, you And they warned of this. They warned they would fight back horizontally. They warned they would close the Strait of Hormuz. And then suddenly, all of us are shocked. I don't think that the You know, I I don't obviously no one thinks striking civilian targets is justifiable.

[00:26:26]Um and the UAE, I think, is an unfair target as well. It does a lot of business with Iran. It's had a good relationship with Iran. Good relationship with Iran has half a million um and half a million, 200,000, depending who you ask. Hundreds of thousands of Iranian expats here. A lot of Iranians park their money here. A lot of I think the UAE is one of the biggest partners, if not the second biggest partner, trade partner to Iran. So, they do a lot of business together. So, on that sense, I understand why the UAE is frustrated. The UAE is very different to Saudi. Saudi's been a lot more hostile towards Iran. But at the same time, Iran was fighting for its survival. And he had that command structure where commanders would make their own decision on how to respond. They had a plan in place. And one would argue that the plan worked.

[00:27:06]Is the war continuing? No. Who controls the Strait of Hormuz? Iran. These are the facts.

[00:27:11]And again, a big a big facet of this war is the financial war, the monetary war, the the striking at the heart of the global economy, but particularly the American economy. A lot of American companies in the UAE. And so, yeah, it's understandable. It's not I mean, look, all wars We don't want war.

[00:27:28]We want wars to be ended. And I hope that Trump can figure out something so he doesn't have to have this show of force, that he can call it a win and move forward in some way. That's what we need to do. But, you know, Iran is not going to tolerate 35 more years of sanctions. They're not going to do that. They don't have to.

[00:27:47]And I think the people realize it.

[00:27:49]Things are going to change. They're going to permanently change. And it's up I mean, American you know, Trump and the Americans who like how things used to be are going to have to wake up and figure out a way to accept a new world, because the world is changing. And it's been changing, but this is a big part of it.

[00:28:05]This Iran pushback, this asymmetrical warfare, the ability that Iran has shown to to really survive and I I hate to say thrive, but um you know, this it really ticks Trump off that they made money by with their toll program, with for the for the energy.

[00:28:22]And And that I'll tell you what, that's what you got to do. If Iran is claiming this thing the right way, I think.

[00:28:29]And we're not.

[00:28:31]One last question, Karen, is um We're seeing a bigger build-up now than we saw prior to the war, number one. And number two, Iran is threatening They've got new escalation steps on that ladder that they haven't used before.

[00:28:45]Removing destroying the wires, the cables, undersea cables, the internet cables for the Gulf. Striking the energy infrastructure in the Gulf entirely, and closing the Strait of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. So, these are all things that they have not done in the first stage of the war. In phase two, do you worry it could even Cuz there's obviously one argument is that it could be a limited strikes by the US, limited response by Iran, and that's it.

[00:29:06]To pressure each other and see who blinks first. But the other one, are you worried is it Or is there a possibility that we could see a war in phase two even worse than phase one?

[00:29:16]I I mean, the possibility exists, because I think that the Iranians have the capability to inflict more damage to more places, just like they are I mean, I I really take their threats seriously, only because the past things they've said have they've been able to to do. So, yeah. It's It's a big problem. And I hope the people talking to Trump can explain to him the kind of not just economic hardship, but really humanitarian crisis that could happen as the summer gets here if power and water and all these things are destroyed. So, um you know, again, you know, we we try to elect leaders and and have people that make decisions that do so in a way that um is wise. We want wisdom. Uh if if we have wise leadership, then it won't go kinetic. But, um that's that's the thing I don't bet on.

[00:30:07]I don't bet on wise leadership in the West, anyway.

[00:30:10]Mhm. Hi, Karen.

[00:30:12]Always always a pleasure. Thank you so much for joining us.

[00:30:14]>> Well, thank you for having me. It's always fun.

[00:30:17]Well,